There are times when futility has its reward - and when you win just 23 times in a 66-game stretch, that's the definition of futility.

The Giants' reward is clarity.

They were so ridiculously bad leading up to the non-waiver trading deadline, it cleared Brian Sabean's mind about the final two months. No postseason. No trades made out of desperation. No problem clearing the way for youth.

To be specific:

-- Barry Zitohasn't made his last start by any means, but it's clear (if not officially stated) the team will exercise its $7 million buyout for next year. Although manager Bruce Bochy pulled him from the rotation Friday, there's no need to put excessive workloads on Matt Cainor Madison Bumgarner in September, so Zito isn't likely to vanish, and he'll be given a proper send-off at AT&T Park along the way.

-- It's a little late for Brandon Belt to be making a statement. The Giants need a long look at Brett Pill, and he should get most of the starts at first base. Same for Roger Kieschnickin left field; let's see him out there regularly. His predecessors failed miserably.

-- Sabean didn't "stand pat," he just refused to make a lousy trade. Assuming they aren't involved in a waiver deal, three highly valued prospects remain: pitcher Kyle Crick(right-hander with exceptional stuff), catcher Andrew Susac(down the line, Buster Posey could become a first baseman) and Mac Williamson, a 6-foot-5-inch, 240-pound outfielder who has big-league potential as a right-handed power hitter. Through Thursday, he had 19 homers and 65 RBIs for Class A San Jose.

-- If the Giants keep Javier Lopezoff the market this winter, they won't regret it - not if they want to make a run at next year's postseason. He hasn't lost a thing.

-- There was a lot of muttering and grumbling about Tim Lincecum's 148-pitch no-hitter, but Mike Krukow nailed it on the air that night, saying "the pitch count means nothing" when it comes to Lincecum. Other guys, absolutely. Not the Freak.

-- The Giants will make Lincecum a qualifying offer, allowing him to sign a one-year deal, and that just might be ideal for all concerned. But if he leaves on his own, that's a crucial factor in the public-relations realm. As in, "We tried to keep him. He wanted to go somewhere else."

The best at what?

They're not exactly taking the measured look in the Kansas City Chiefs' camp. Offensive coordinator Doug Pedersonsaid this week that quarterback Alex Smithis "the best in the league." Well, first of all, he'll be lucky to crack the top 10, by any standards. But why put that on Smith? Why give skeptical fans some ammunition if things go sour? ... Second thoughts for Chip Kelly? Probably not. But as the coach at Oregon, he was looking at lavish new facilities, quarterback Marcus Mariota, a bunch of 53-20 wins and another shot at the national championship. Now he gets the Eagles, the tough NFC East, the Philly press and the Riley Coopercrisis ... Best news to come out of Monday's Bay Area college football luncheon: Thanks to executive director Gary Cavalli, Doug Kellyand the rest of the staff, the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl is winning the relevance battle. After a final appearance at AT&T Park this season, the December 2014 game will be played at the 49ers' new stadium, pitting the No. 4 Pac-12 team against a middle-of-the-pack Big 10 team. That's significant progress ... With his shaved head, prominent beard and clutch play, that's Jonny Gomes at the heart of a Red Sox revival. "You always hear that I'm a 'clubhouse guy,' but I can hit a baseball, too, you know," he told reporters. "I'm not some rodeo clown."

Covering the spectrum of interesting books: 1. "Who's Who in Baseball," the venerable statistics register now in its 98th year, operating out of the same New York publishing house and looking exactly the same, with Amazon your best bet; 2. To keep Jackie Robinsonin your summertime conversation, the superb "Branch Rickey" by Jimmy Breslin, and 3. "Never. Say. Die.," the story of the Giants' 2012 season through Brad Mangin's photographs and the words of KNBR's Brian Murphy, the onetime Chronicle writer and Giants historian. Deliberately breaking the coffee-table mold, Mangin had some of his photos treated with gritty effects and damaged corners, saying, "The team was not perfect, and we did not want the edges of the pictures to be perfect. It was a sense of trying to keep things slightly off-kilter." In light of the team's downfall, this unconventional approach lends poignancy to a most improbable season ... Noticed this on espn.com while researching the career of Deacon White, the 19th-century star voted into this year's Baseball Hall of Fame class by a veterans committee: Unlike many of his contemporaries, White led a clean, upright life, abstaining from "a performance-enhancing elixir called Cerebrine, supposedly made from ox brains" and "something called 'The Elixir of Brown-Sequard, made by an eponymous physiologist from monkey testosterone." Comparable to steroids? Hardly. Just know that players have always sought the edge, no matter how grave the risk.